Tips on Organizing a Classroom Library

Organizing Your Classroom Library 

Tips and Tricks  

 

Out of all the decisions I have made regarding my first classroom, how to organize my classroom library was by far the hardest.  I have been in so many classrooms over the years and have found that the most common place for chaos is found in that small corner of the classroom- the classroom library.  I knew a few things going into planning my library:

1.  I wanted it organized (who doesn't!)

2.  I wanted students to have an easy guide for finding and putting books away.

3.  I wanted all books put away in the right spot (once again, who doesn't!)

4.  I wanted it organized by fiction/ non-fiction and genre

Now I am not saying my way is the only way or even the best way to organize a library. I think every teacher has their own style and it also depends largely on the grade you teach.  I am in fifth this year and am working with mostly chapter books and non-fiction (odd shaped books), as well as picture books (they are truly the best.)  To me this meant I needed a clean, organized space for my classroom library. 

So I took the time consuming route of labeling not only all of my book boxes, but also all of my books! That's right, every single book in my library has it's own label!  To be honest, this was a tad bit time consuming (around 2 hours) but I now only have to label new books coming in (which is super easy, since my system is already set up.) 

Here is my library organized system: 

-Blue Containers (Fiction) are for book series and authors that I wanted to spotlight.  Examples: Roald Dahl, The Babysitters Club, Jerry Spinelli etc. 

-Green Containers (Fiction) are organized by genre's and then alphabetized. 

Examples: Genre: Mystery, Sports, Animals

-Black Containers (Non-Fiction)  are organized by non-fiction topics and then alphabetized for all the random subjects. 

Examples: Biographies, Marine Life, Presidents etc. 

 Now this is where the time consuming part comes into play! 

 I laid all the labels out (before putting them on the baskets) and organized by alphabet.  From there each label was given a sticker that corresponded with it's color- in this case blue. On each sticker I wrote a letter that would be that baskets letter.  The letters did not correspond with the title of the books or authors at all.  

Once all three sections were labeled and attached to the bin, I started labeling each book.  

 This is part of my non-fiction section and because the basket these books go into have a "G" label, they also received a "G" on their label.  

 As you can see in the picture above, there are two different labels with a "B" but they are located in different bins due to the color of the label.  Each book in the tub will match the corresponding label! 

Phew! Hope that all makes sense!  I am so thrilled with this system and how it turned out!  I think it will keep the books organized and will be an easy system for students to use!  I will keep you updated on how this system works! My fifth graders start on Wednesday!

Thank you for stopping by my classroom library!  Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!  -Ashley from Tales From Fifth 

 Library Labels: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Polka-Dot-Classroom-Labels-144377